Reason 2 Live
by Eri Sawachika
Summary: Even though Zoey has been separated from her friends, she's found new hope with more survivors; will relationships blossom, or will the stress of the infection become too much? Left 4 Dead 2 fanfic with Zoey x Ellis and possible Rochelle x Nick
1. A Damsel in Distress

_Hey dudes, just wanted to say this is my first. So, y'know, feel free to rip it to shit if you have to; but I'm pretty good at taking constructive criticism anyway. Whatever, lets get this show on the road!_

**Chapter 1: A damsel in distress**

The night was cold and wet; thunder boomed overhead and lightning could be heard striking buildings in the deserted city. Zoey shone her torch in front of her, making her way carefully through the narrow alley, pistols at the ready and her clever eyes scanning the ground before her. The torrential downpour made it difficult to see further than a few feet, but infected always made the tell-tale sounds that signaled when they were drawing near. Zoey heard a growl behind her - just in time, she whipped round to see a black shape glide smoothly through the darknes towards her. She shot blindly at the hunter, in a state of shock. Louis was usually the one trailing behind in situation like this, but Louis wasn't there to defend her any more; the rest of her team took different rescue helicopters. Just her luck that the one she took was driven by a changing pilot.

Zoey pressed on through the alley, eager to be away from the fresh corpse of the hunter. The complete quietness of the night pressed around her, almost suffocating her with its eerie stillness. Her breath misted the air in front of her; she shivered, not so much from the cold but from the feeling that something was always watching her back, staring at her as she made her suicidal journey to doom.

A sudden sound cut through the silence like a knife - a scream. Not a war cry of a jockey, but a human scream, a man. Zoey shuddered. As much as she'd like to help, if a fully grown man couldn't take on whatever just caused his distress, she wouldn't stand a chance - and she wasn't going to risk her life for matyrdom over what was by now swiftly becoming one of the horde. Nevertheless, she walked with urgency towards the mouth of the alley, eager to find the next safe house - which seemed to be the same direction the scream was coming from.

As she stepped out into the parking lot, she saw the warm, comforting glow of the lights of the safe room. Relief washed over her as she started to sprint towards the big red door; she could see people moving around inside through the barricaded windows. More survivors meant a better chance to live, and more people to take the stress off during a difficult horde offensive. With a disregard of her surroundings, she smiled as the lights grew in front of her eyes, calling her to a good night's rest and a full stomach. Halfway to her destination, a noise halted Zoey in her tracks. She stopped dead as she heard the coughing assossciated with smokers; but this was no smoker she could hear, this was a person. She urgently shone her torch around her, searching for the source of the coughing and possibly of the scream she had heard earlier. She pointed the beam of yellow light towards the source, what looked like another corpse.

The dead body lay bathed in the pool of light, seemingly still, until it shook with another cough. No longer startled, Zoey rushed to help. Even if this was a person turning into an infected, she felt pity for him and her conscience refused to leave him alone where he could get mauled to death; but it looked as if he'd already been through that and more.

Letting the medipack down from where it precatiously balanced on her shoulderblade, Zoey almost tore open the red kit and reached for the bandages. Expertly, she knelt down by the man to assess his injuries. He seemed to have had his back nearly ripped open by the zombies, and his left side was no better off. Bending down, she started her work cleaning and bandaging the wound. As much as this bloody work would make others gag, Zoey had had to do this to herself more than once, and was unfazed by the deep red staining on the man's yellow t-shirt. After she'd patched him up, she sat back, happy that she'd helped save a life. He was still bent over, hands and knees on the ground, but his breathing had slowed and he seemed calmer. Slowly, he straightend himself, and sat up balancing on his knees.

He had a handsome face - as handsome one can be while covered in bile and blood - and dark brown hair, ruffled and messy. His blue eyes shone like beacons, and as he faced her he smiled lopsidedly to show his thanks for being rescued.

Zoey smiled in return, locked in a gaze with his happy eyes; seemingly obvlivious he had just gone through a near-death experience. 'I'm Zoey,' she started, 'And it's time we got to that there safe house.' Zoey stood up and walked towards the safe hourse, thinking the man was following her.

'I'm Ellis,' he piped up in a southern drawl, poorly impersonating Zoey's more formal introduction, 'And thank you for saving me miss, but I think I'll be needing assisstance in getting over there with you.' Zoey tuned. His eyes were sparkling, laughing, but the goofy smile remained in place.

She hurried over to Ellis, and putting his left arm around her right shoulder, they limped awkwardly towards the orange glow ahead. He was so much taller than she'd anticipated, and much more heavier, but eventually they reached the barricaded red door, grinning at their futile attempts to walk with only 3 feet between them. Zoey started to bang on the door, hoping someone inside would hear.

'Let us in! We're not infected!' Zoey shouted. She knew she was attracting the horde, but the people inside would allow her and Ellis to accompany them soon. Alas, this seemed not to be the case. A rifle was cocked between the bars of the door, almost immediately.

A low voice grumbled, 'We ain't accepting no more survivors, immune or not. Sorry, but we've lost too much already.' Zoey started down the barrel of the gun, taken aback by the unanticipated response. As she opened her mouth to retaliate, Ellis cut in.

'Coach? Is that... Is that really you?' There was a note of startled recognition in his voice.

'Ellis? Ellis! We thought we'd lost you!' The door opened, and Zoey almost fell through carrying the weight of Ellis. The owner of the low voice was talking to the rest of the survivors. Zoey took this as an oppurtunity to survey her surroundings.

She found herself in an open room, with white plaster peeling off the walls and dusty laminate flooring underfoot. There was a battered green couch in the middle of the room, opposite a high table which was the storing place for a stash of ammo and numerous powerful weapons, pushed against the wall with medical equipment, pipe bombs, and syringes piled up underneath. On the couch, a man was sprawled; he wore a once-white suit, and he had dark hair, slicked back but messy in places. He wore a grim expression, and Zoey got the feeling he was the pessimist of the group. On the other side of the room, there was a kitchen unit inset into the wall, with a broken oven and smashed cuboards contrasting with the gleaming white fridge and worktops - in most safe rooms, the kitchen area was kept sterile in respect for those who may pass along later, needing to heal or prepare food. At the kitchen, turning round to face the distraction at the door, was a young, beautiful dark-skinned girl. Zoey took a liking to her instantly, since she seemed like the type of person with a smile always on her face (as was the unconditional welcoming smile now; directed not at Ellis, but at Zoey herself), unlike the man in the white suit. The girl wore a pink t-shirt and slim jeans along with high-heeled boots, and was busy making three mugs of hot chocolate. A door led off to a dark room Zoey assumed was the bathroom, and the standard pile of sleeping bags were rolled up in the corner. She turned to face the man who had opened the door for herself and Ellis. He was a large man, and seemed to be in his mid-forties. He had dark skin and although he was bald, sported a thin coating of black stubble. He wore a yellow and purple polo shirt and brown trousers. For now he seemed pleased at Ellis's supposed return, but his voice directed at Zoey earlier told her that he could be assertive if he wanted to; if, apologetic.

'Nick, Rochelle, look who's back! And bless him, he's brought back a damsel in distress!' The large man who Ellis had called Coach adressed this to the other two.

Nick looked up from his position on the couch in disgust. 'Oh great,' he said sarcastically, 'Now there's two of them. It's a wonder Ellis could look after himself out there, let alone rescue a girl on his own - what did he rescue her from anyway, his own stupidity?' Nick's scorn didn't faze Ellis, but the corners of his mouth twitched at insulting his ally, as if it were a personal joke between them.

'Oh c'mon Nick, you know we all missed him!' Rochelle laughed and walked over the ruffle Nick's hair, despite his attempts to bat her hand away. 'Hey Ellis,' she contrinued, 'I have something of yours.' Rochelle walked over to the table and produced from within the mass of ammo a small crumpled blue and white object which she threw at Ellis. He caught it expertly.

'My cap!' He said in amazament. 'Thanks Ro, I thought I'd lost it for good when I got seperated from you guys!' He firmly pulled the hat over his messy hair. 'But I gotta say, I owe it all to this here girl that I can be talked to you guys right now.' The others looked down and noticed that Ellis was the one supporting his weight on Zoey, instead of the assumed vice-versa.

'I'm the damsel in distress here' he grinned. 'If it weren't for Zoey, I'd be out there getting mauled by hunters and chargers right now.'

Rochelle smiled at Zoey in thanks, and led her to the couch to sit, handing her a mug of hot chocolate while Coach closed and barred the safe house door. Nick seemed disgruntled at losing his territory to two girls.

'Drink up Zoey,' said Rochelle, 'And you can tell us more of what happened in the morning.'

As Zoey drank the warming delicious fluid and settled deeper into the suprisingly comfortable couch, her eyelids started to droop. She had reached the safe house and met new survivors, and had a mug of hot chocolate in her hand and a warm, safe place to sleep. Slowly, she lasped into oblivion, while the others asked Ellis questions about what exactly had occured.

Smiling, she fell into a deep, welcoming sleep.

_A/N: So, first chapter. Yaay. Sorry it's so long. Well, at least I think it's long. I coulda gone on a lot more. But tell me what you think in the reviews, and I'll have more up ASAP, my promise to you. :)_

_**-Frankie**_


	2. On the Road Again

_Thanks for all the encouraging reviews! I'd just like to say I have a physics exam tomorrow, but screw that so I can get this next chapter up ASAP. :D_

**Chapter 2: On the Road Again**

When Zoey woke it was still dark outside. Someone had pulled a green scruffy blanket over her, and as she sat up, groggily rubbing the sleep from her eyes, the prvious night's events came to her - rescuing Ellis and meeting with his friends; Coach, Nick, and Rochelle. Standing up, she could see that they had slept on the floor, allowing her the couch for the night; she smiled at how Nick must have put up a fight for his territory before she came and claimed it.

Grabbing two pistols and a bottle of water, Zoey quietly unbarred the safe house doors and crept outside, making sure to close the latch behind her. She turned to survey the building she had just left; it was a 5 story block of apartments, with a fire escape leading right up to the sloped roof. Zoey smiled, and started to climb the fire escape, the metal cold against her palm in the misty dawn and the black paint peeling off in places. Trying not to make too much sound as to alert the horde, she climbed to the top, and scrambled onto the roof. Tiptoeing accross the lime green coat of erosion on the copper, she sat down facing the sliver of light to the east and watched the sun rise.

The golden rays were seemingly static, cutting through the mist and dismissing the dark for another day. The city was bathed in light, making it appear as a silent heavenly city. The sun was but a disc on the horizon, and as it rose it cast long dark shadows over the west side of the city; constrasting a beautiful pool of soft yellow with the pitch black shade next to each other - _Just like a bumble-bee_, Zoey thought to herself. She leant back, her eyes closed, and let the sun roll over her skin, letting all her worries free in this warm glow. Basked in oblivion, she didn't hear the approaching footsteps.

'Ain't it just beautiful.' Zoey opened her eyes and saw that Ellis was coming to sit down on her right. He had washed his t-shirt since it wasn't caked in blood as it was the night before, and wore a soft smile. He too looked golden in the sunlight; a golden angel in a golden city.

He sat down next to her, just watching the sun rise with her for a while. It was perfect, just the two of them sitting in silence, enjoying the amazing beauty the shades of gold could bring to even an infected city. However, the sun could not rid one of the mist and Zoey was starting to regret leaving her pink jacket behind. Sensing her cold, Ellis reached out and put an arm around her; it was more a reflex than a thought-through action, but it had the desired effect.

He was suprisingly warm, and Zoey found herself shifting closer to him, trying to get comfortable. She rested her head on his shoulder, still watching the sun rise. Neither of them spoke, as words would ruin the moment; a moment that would embed itself in her memory forever, sitting on the roof of a 5 story building, watching the sun rise in a gleaming deserted city, with a golden angel's arm around her.

After what seemed like forever, the duo heard a commotion in the rooms below.

'Sounds like they just woke up,' said Ellis. Zoey nodded her agreement and together they made their way down the fire exit and back into the safe room.

Rochelle was in the bathroom, brushing her hair and washing her face, Coach was preparing food for the group, and Nick was still in his sleeping bag, moaning at the noise Coach was making. As Ellis and Zoey walked through the door, he turned to smile at them.

'Finally!' Coach exclaimed, 'We thought you'd run off without us!' He laughed a deep, hearty laugh. Zoey smiled. She opened her mouth to tell Coach that they were watching the sun rise together, but Ellis interrupted her;

'We went to go look around for some supplies together,' He started, 'But we found nothin'.' Zoey shot him a worried glance; sitting on a roof together was completely innocent, unless... She smiled, as the thought struck her; _He's got a thing for me._

Hours later, and finally the team were ready to set off. Zoey felt refreshed after her shower, and reassured with a health kit on her back, and a belt filled with pain pills, adrenaline shots, and bile jars, as well as a few pipe bombs as gifts for the horde. She had armed herself with a katana and auto shotgun strapped behind her and a pistol pushed into each side of her belt. As Coach, wielding a mini-uzi, opened the safe room door, he was immediately greeted by the tongue of a smoker which Nick expertly shot. A horde attack as soon as the door opens was rare; but they happened, and down the street waves of zombies were coming at the group as they filed out of the safe room, closing the metal door behind them. Zombies with missing limbs, torn clothes, covered in blood and even vomiting.

With a fierce war cry, Rochelle surprised the group by rushing forward first, swinging her axe like a pro - Bill would have been proud of such a valiant soldier. Zoey shot a few common infected in the neck, enjoying being back in battle with a team again. She started to laugh at how easy killing zombies was getting, when the cry went up from Ellis and Nick simultaneously;

**TANK!**

The large, muscular infected pushed smaller fry out of its way as it raced towards the survivors, who were reaching for their more powerful weapons. Zoey had her shotgun out in a flash, and fired a round into the beast's huge chest. The bullets seemed to ricochet off, having little to no effect. As she was reloading, she was grabbed from behind. A reflex made her start to struggle, but it was Ellis's voice in her ear.

'You act as if you've never shot a tank before, missy,' He laughed, grabbing her arms and aiming the shotgun for her. 'Man or zombie, it never changes where it hurts the most...' Ellis aimed Zoey's gun with her, and fired; a shot that went straight between the groins of the tank, bringing it down. They both chuckled, and Ellis stepped away from her as the group turned to look at Zoey, amazed.

'She's pulled off Ellis's little trick!' giggled Rochelle.

The horde was thinning now, and Nick shot down the last zombie holding the rifle in his left hand alone, as if his aim was perfect and he needn't look at his target to see where he was shooting. Everyone was grinning. They'd advanced from the safe room to the junction; a menial distance given the time frame - but they'd had to fight off one of the largest attacks in a long time. Almost gasping for breath and sweating after the extortion, Zoey and Rochelle high-fived over the body of the charger they'd took down together.

'Five of us,' said Coach, 'Versus ten million zombies.' He pushed a carcass with his foot, as if checking to see if it was dead. Nick stalked past him emitting an aura of euphoria.

'They're gonna need more zombies,' he grinned. As bad a joke it was, everyone laughed at the attempt; the smallest hint of humour was welcomed in a hostile environment such as this. As the progressed down the wide street, they felt they could take on anything, and all Zoey held was positive anticipation for the future;

She was on the road again.

_Oopsie. Very short. My bad. Well, thanks for the positive reviews everyone. I wanna start a RvB fic too soon, but having 3 going at once will be hard. After my exams finish a fortnight today, I'll have more free time to work on this. Yay! (For some) Also, thanks for motivation go to Butters321 and hdubs and everyone who reviews. I LOVE REVIEWS. :D_

**~Frankie**


	3. Human Peer Bonding

_As planned. Sorry for the huge-ass delay, I decided to be a useless piece of shit and play video games all day long. Hopefully Imma get back into this soon. Hopefully._

**Chapter 3: Human Peer Bonding**

Every hour counted as the group pressed onward; every second was a second closer to their ultimate goal, and every day was another day ridding the world of the infection. The minutes dragged out in the day, and the restless nights didn't last long before they had to press onward. Although there was no end in sight, Zoey felt optimistic, as she'd found new friends to travel with and knew that however long and hard you tried, you always did get rescued in the end - even if you found yourself once again facing the horde.

* * *

The sun had set hours ago as the group stumbled into the last safe room of the day. Barring the door behind them, Nick leant against the frame, gasping for breath. Even now as they stood silent the survivors could hear the enraged tank duelling with an aggravated charger; a close call after the charger Coach was fleeing from smashed into the tank instead. Scared that any small noise might catch the attention of the horde, Zoey closed the door to the small and surprisingly clean bathroom before untying her hair and washing it in the sink. It had been a long day - her first with her new teammates - and by mid-afternoon exhaustion and hunger had taken over any efforts to socialise. The infection had spread more since Zoey last had other people relying on her, and she found herself ever distracted trying to watch out for four people at once; five including herself.

After bathing her face in warm water, Zoey exited the bathroom to find most people asleep; only Rochelle had been waiting to use the sink. Both smiling at how the boys didn't seem to care for hygiene as they brushed past one another, Zoey took off her pink jacket and folded it, placing it along with her black trainers on the hard wooden floor of the safe room.

Walking over to where the sleeping bags lay earlier, Zoey found only one left. She bit her lip. Either she or Rochelle would have to share. Picking up the sleeping bag, Zoey opened it out on the opposite side of the room to where her shoes and jacket lay; before walking back and curling up on the floor. She recalled how, just 24 hours ago, Rochelle had welcomed a stranger who could have been infected, and who she assumed was injured. Zoey vowed she would do all she could to repay her unconditional kindness, and a night without a sleeping bag was a small price to pay for a new group of friends.

Zoey was still awake when Rochelle exited the bathroom; she let her eyelids open slightly and saw the dark-skinned girl walk over to the readily laid out sleeping bag, then stopping when she noticed Zoey lying on the floor. Seemingly unsure of what to do, Rochelle stood looking back and forth for a few seconds, before sighing and slipping into her sleeping bag when she thought Zoey sound asleep. Zoey smiled to herself, satisfied that everyone slept soundly.

However, the floor was no comfortable place, and Zoey found herself grunting and shifting barely minutes after her feelings of self-satisfaction had passed. Tossing onto her right side and using her jacket as a pillow, she noticed someone was staring at her. Her first thought was of the infected; surely only eyes as bright as theirs could glow in the dark? Panicking, and irrational with fatigue, she was about to call out; but a sharp object hit her square on the forehead, and picking it up, Zoey recognized Ellis's cap.

The mechanic was sitting up, resting on his left arm and squinting at Zoey; he seemed confused that she was lying on the floor. After staring at each other for what seemed like minutes but lasted only seconds, Zoey picked up the cap and scrambled over to Ellis. Regardless of why he'd been watching her sleep, his quick thinking had saved her a lot of embarrassment.

On her hands and knees, she crawled over to Ellis, her back aching with the effort; it was close to midnight and after a tiring day, Zoey was nearly more of a zombie than herself. Placing the cap on the floor next to him, and avoiding looking at his piercing eyes, she turned to make her way back to her spot on the floor. Before she could do so, a muscular arm had grabbed her waist and she was pulled back into a tight embrace.

Gasping, but too tired to struggle, Zoey let Ellis pull her back into his sleeping bag. The warmth and comfort of such a simple bed seemed like a luxury after a day of zombie killing and expectations that one would sleep on a cold, hard floor all night. Pressing herself against Ellis, and mumbling a word of thanks, she wondered what the others would say when they saw her in the morning.

However, if she was perfectly honest with herself; Zoey didn't care.

* * *

When she awoke, the sun had risen and only Nick and Coach were still sleeping. Rubbing her eyes, Zoey saw Rochelle and Ellis talking in hushed voices by the kitchen area; Ellis sat on the worktop and was blushing, while Rochelle smiled at him encouragingly and made a cup of coffee. Seeing my stirring and movements to get up, Ellis snapped his mouth shut and turned an even redder shade of scarlet. Rochelle couldn't help giggling and presented me with a mug of coffee while Ellis sat as still as a statue.

"Seems like you didn't sleep on the floor after all, Zoey!" Rochelle whispered while grinning.

Zoey blushed, and glanced over at where the rest of the party lay asleep. Rochelle laughed.

"I won't tell them, don't you worry; and it was only right after all. No-one could leave you lying on the floor like that!" Zoey started to smile along with Rochelle now; her crush on Ellis seemed not to faze the news producer who had undoubtedly encountered anomalies far more bizarre.

Ellis coughed, interrupting their conversation. He mumbled something about being sorry and hung his head in shame.

"Ellis!" Zoey laughed; as one laughs at the accident of a small child. "You did me a favour, you know? Your sleeping bag was far cosier than the floor." He blushed harder and refused to look at her. Afraid he would stop speaking to her, Zoey leapt up on the counter and sat next to him.

"So tell me about Keith," Zoey started, "He ever get stuck in a zombie apocalypse?"

Rochelle nodded at Ellis, and added "I bet even he couldn't see this coming, huh?"

Startled that someone wanted to hear his stories for once, Ellis's eyes began to sparkle, and he couldn't help a smile creeping onto his face. "Well, this one time, the ghost train broke down when he was at the circus with his girl, and he had to watch ghosts and zombies and shit for three whole hours before they got them outta there. He kept talking for days and days about how vampires and witches and dead people were gonna take over the world, and-"

"Ellis, that's enough." No-one had noticed Nick wake up. He stalked over to the counter to grab the coffee Rochelle had prepared earlier for him. "We really don't have time for this."

"But Nick, we're in a safe room, and Zo here asked, and-"

"We _never_ have time for Keith stories. Ever." Nick cut Ellis off with his insult. Taken aback by how much more ill-tempered and sarcastic he was than yesterday, Zoey squeezed Ellis's hand behind his back. This gave him confidence.

"Now Nick, I ain't being rude or nothin', but I was already talkin' to Zo and Ro who seemed happy to listen. It's okay if you don't like it, but please don't be interruptin' me again."

Nick seemed stunned at Ellis's bite back, and seemingly ignoring Ellis absconded into the bathroom, coffee cup and all.

Ellis wore a proud smile on his face; slightly absent-minded but oozing confidence. It was all Zoey and Rochelle could do to not to burst out laughing.

_AN: Well, another shortish chapter. As afore mentioned, I won't be writing frequently, but I'll do my best to bring updates when I can. Reviews are appreciated and more thanks to hdubs and Zackarra for motivating me to get off my lazy ass and write the next chapter._

_**~Frankie**_


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